Update 3-16-04


Hi,

Several address changes, a little business, and the last of the backlogged mail.

From Rob Kelman: Thanks to Jean Cohen Oklan's e-mail, which pointed out that I netted instead of com'd on my website address, I now know that I had a senior moment. My website address should have read: www.muralmagicinc.com, though my e-mail address was correct (RKDesigns@cox.net) Thanks again.

From Jay Gladky: My new e-mail address is: james_gladky@yahoo.com Please delete my AOL e-mail address and replace it with my Yahoo e-mail address.

From Henry Gabbay: Please add my e-mail address, hgabbay235@aol.com, to the list. Thanks.

From Liz King Giordano, secretary to South principal Stephen Lando: The Awards Assembly this year will be on Wednesday, June 9th, at 7:00 PM, at the high school. During this assembly the first Vince Tampio Scholarship will be presented.

From Robert Fiveson: I want to tell you that I am excited about the plaque and scholarship named for Vince. I think it's so appropriate, and I am proud to be part of it. I hope someone from the inner circle will be able to attend each year and perhaps say a few words about who Vince was, and how he affected both theater at the school, as well as inspired the large percentage of students who went pro.

[Rich -- I asked Robert, since he'd stayed in touch with Vince over the years, but was unable to get to the West coast funeral, if he was possibly available to present the first year's award.]

From Robert Fiveson: I am so very honored to be able to do this, you have no idea. I always felt I owed the man a great deal. The date is now reserved, and, short of a calamity, I will be there.

From Barbara Blitfield Pech: Just wanted to pass this along, as it is multilevel interesting. If you go to www.realtor.com and type in our old zip code, 11581, it seems like all of Valley Stream is for sale -- or at least a home similar to our old ones, on our old home streets. (As happens, all the houses I lived in -- 26 Garden, 16 Jasmine, and my parents last address, 15 Valley Lane North -- are currently for sale. Kinda makes me weirdly uncomfortable.) If you are living out of town, this is a great way to visit. A lot of homes have virtual tours, and you can go right on in. Pass the popcorn ... and tissues. (Re: current asking prices -- yowzer!!!!!!)

A bit of political action, forwarded by Tom Calise from the Internet, and condensed: I hear gas is going to hit close to $3.00 a gallon by the summer. Want gasoline prices to come down? Phillip Hollsworth offered this idea, which makes more sense than the Don't buy gas on a certain day campaign that was going around earlier.
     For the rest of this year, don't buy any gas from the two biggest companies (which now are one), Exxon and Mobil. If they're not selling any gas, they'll have to reduce their prices, and then the other companies will have to follow suit. But to have an impact, we need to reach millions of Exxon and Mobil gas buyers.
     To start to do that, I'm sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send it to at least ten more, and those 300 send it to at least ten more, by the time the message reaches the sixth generation, we will have reached over three million consumers! If those three million pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! Acting together we can make a difference.
If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. And hold out until the oil companies lower their prices to the $1.30 range and keep them there.

Finally, the latest report from Terri Donohue Calamari's daughter, Trish: Two weeks ago, I had my first, "Oh my God, I'm in Uzbekistan Moment." On Valentine's Day, I had to take a language assessment test, right around the corner from my home. My language teacher said to, "Go to Nasiba's (my host sister's) school." My test was at 11 AM.
     That morning, after studying and enjoying the break from the pre-service training commotion, I left my house at 10:40 AM and arrived at the test site about 10 minutes later. There was no one from the Peace Corps to be found. As I walked into the building, I was approached by a woman who turned out to be the director of the school. I eked out, in broken Russian, that I was with the Peace Corps and was there to take a test. At that point, it was clear that I was at the wrong school, and I began trying discretely to leave.
     The director rushed me to her office. She was accompanied by a couple of secretaries. Everyone in the room was speaking Ruzbek. They called my host mom to the office (she's the librarian) and pulled my sister out of class. There is another school in my neighborhood, and I thought that perhaps that's where the test was taking place. My mom called the other school to find out. Meanwhile, the director kept on saying, "Oh, so you're with the Peace Corps. We could use some more teachers. Wanna teach?" Since one of my colleagues got in a similar situation a few weeks earlier, and before he knew it, he was in front of about thirty 4th grade students, suffice it to say, I was freaking out.
     As it turned out, the test site was not at the other school, either. "But why don't you stay for some tea!" the director offered. At that point, I was a bit frazzled and wanted to get out of there before I found myself in front of a Level 9 English class. After escaping, I called the Peace Corps and arranged to take the test a week later. (Aced it, too!) Soon after, I found out that my teacher was not referring to "Nasiba, my host sister," but "Nasiba, the Uzbek teacher," whose "school" was a nondescript, Soviet-style split-level house. Later that same night, I committed my first act of cultural insensitivity, at the dinner table.
     My family was serving fish that evening. Mind you, Uzbekistan is a landlocked country, and the only sources of fish are from the Aral Sea or the Chirchik River. Both bodies of water are like Love Canal. Uh ...yeah ... So needless to say, I unequivocally declined to have dinner that night.
     I'm sorry -- I'll put up with breakfast hot dogs, and cold, bullion-flavored mashed potatoes in the name of grassroots diplomacy, but radioactive fish is where I draw the line. (Though, the Pepto Bismol chasers after those breakfasts can also put a strain on US-Uzbek relations.)
     Lingual and culinary episodes aside, things are going well here. I have one more month left of training before I get sworn in as a volunteer. Yesterday, I received my site assignment for the next two years. In April, I will be living in Samarkand, which is one of the most beautiful and historic cities in the country, if not the world. It was a major trading site along the Silk Road. I will be working for an NGO that specializes in women's rights and reproductive health. They're akin to Planned Parenthood, in both their mission and prominence in the field. I will be assisting with management, volunteer development, and public relations. In two weeks, I will visit Samarkand, meet with my counterpart (supervisor), visit the organization, and also meet the host family I will live with for the first three months. I'll have a full report upon my return.

The home page: http://hometown.aol.com/vssouth65

Rich